COVE -- Rivercrest overcame a rash of early turnovers in its opening game Tuesday at the Class 3A girls basketball state tournament, but Jessieville sophomore forward Kellie Lampo made sure that didn't happen again Saturday night.
Lampo scored 32 points and pulled down 21 rebounds to lift the Lady Lions to a 68-50 victory in the quarterfinals of at Cossatot River High School.
"As the game goes on, I coach [Lampo] so hard," said Jessieville Coach Matt Carter, whose team advanced to the semifinals for the fifth consecutive season. "She's a force without a doubt and works so, so hard. She stepped up big time when we needed her to."
Faith Bratton scored 15 points and Madison Hair had 10 for Jessieville (23-9), which will play Valley Springs or Perryville at 12:30 p.m. Monday.
Jordan Elder scored 22 points for Rivercrest (25-8), which turned over the ball seven times in the first quarter and was forced to play catch up after giving up an early lead. Krystan Vornes added 18 points.
"We knew coming in that it was going to be a tough one," Carter said. "It wasn't pretty at times, but I'm proud of the team overall because it was a collective effort on both ends. We're coming together a little bit, and they're all playing hard."
The Lady Lions made things especially hard for Vornes, who turned in a 33-point, 17-rebound effort against Fordyce in the opening round. The sophomore found it tough to even establish position or catch entry passes Saturday with Jessieville collapsing on her every time the ball was thrown inside.
Jessieville led 28-23 at halftime behind Lampo's 17 points but began distancing itself from Rivercrest in the second half. The Lady Lions led 37-34 midway through the third but scored 15 of the quarter's final 18 points.
Sports on 03/08/2015